Final Exam Information

Introduction

This page
is intended to help you study for the final exam. Your goal is not only to
learn the facts presented in this course, but to understand the concepts, to
be able to express a knowledgeable opinion on various controversial issues,
and to be able to apply your knowledge in novel contexts.

Exam Time and Format

The final exam will be a
take-home exam, handed out on Tuesday April 29, in class, and due
Monday, May 5 by 5:00 PM.

The exam will be
"open-book", meaning that you may use the readings and lecture
notes from the class while taking the exam.

The required method of
turn-in is electronic mail, by emailing a PDF (Adobe Acrobat) file to
the instructor (bowman@vt.edu). If
you absolutely cannot create a PDF file, please use plain text.

The exam will have two parts:

1.Short
answer (8 questions, 5 points each): These questions will require short
(approx. one to two paragraphs) written responses. The questions will be
conceptual in nature, but will not require overly detailed or deep answers.
For example, "Define the term 'immersion'. What are three ways that
researchers have attempted to measure immersion? Give an example of an
application where immersion might be critical, and state why that is the
case."

2.Essay
(choose 3 of 4 questions, 20 points each): These questions will require
longer (approx. one to two pages) written responses. The questions will ask
you to go into detail on a particular topic, and also to make some argument
or new application of your knowledge. For example, "To a large
degree, user interfaces (UIs) for desktop applications have converged to a
standard. Do you think that 3D/VE interfaces will also be standardized? Why
or why not?"

In answering the exam
questions, it is crucial that you use citations of readings and outside
publications that are relevant to your arguments. For example, in
answering the first sample question above, you might state,
"Questionnaires are the most common way to measure immersion
(Witmer & Singer, 1998), but some have questioned their usefulness
(Slater, 1999)." You will need to include full reference
information for any paper you cite that is not on the reading list for
the class.

Previous Exams

In order to give you additional data about
the types of questions that may be asked on the exam, I am including here a
copy of the exam questions from previous classes.